C4I CAMEROON SEPTEMBER 2009 - APRIL 2010 MINISTRY NEWSLETTER The message and the Churches/pastors There are many pastors and church leaders in Cameroon who struggle with the issue of Israel. C4I Cameroon has a two dimensional approach in working with the churches and their leaders. We seek to sow the message in new congregations by first introducing the message to their pastors and we seek to develop the message in churches that have embraced it. A small group of pastors met in Mbanga, in the Littoral region to pray for Israel, a decision was taken by the six pastors to take the message to their comrades of other congregations so as to scatter the seeds abroad. Meanwhile in the city of Duoala, I continue to knock at the doors of churches and denominations. An arrangement to meet the secretary general of the European Baptist Churches failed but I had a meeting with the pastor of the Native Baptist Church Doaula and look forward to consolidating this relationship. Initial contacts have been started with the hierarchy of the Full Gospel church in Cameroon and the Deeper Life Bible Church based in Doaula. My goal is to use these leaders as a stepping stone to the pastors who serve in their denominations. Meeting with Field Pastor of Limbe The Pastor Limbe Field council of Churches, Rev Shu Divine supports the need to encourage the churches to pray for Israel and to learn about the relationship between Israel and the church. This response was given during my second meeting with him in his Limbe office in March. We took sometime to watch our educational DVDs on Israel and discussed on the need of the church to be more involved in learning more about the Jewish people. Rev Shu is former pastor of Nkwen Baptist Church, the church that hosted the first C4I conference in Cameroon in September 2008. As field pastor Limbe, he oversees 65 church pastors from Limbe to Littoral region. He will be discussing with the executives for a presentation on Israel in a meeting of 65 pastors and pastors' wives planned for May in Douala. As part of preparations for this meeting, we agreed that the pastors will need C4I brochures, educational DVDs on Israel and a PowerPoint presentation on Israel during the meeting. The meeting is scheduled to hold in Rev Koum Emmanuel's church, Israel Makepe, Douala. Leadership Development for C4I Cameroon Pastor Nchinda Gideon and Pastor Yosimbom Randolph benefited from the International Alliance and Leadership Matters Courses that took place in Yaounde, Cameroon on 14-27 February 2010. We received training in Relational skills, Communicational Skills, Creative thinking Skills, Decision Making, Motivational Skills, Management Skills, Public Relations Skills, Life Management Plan, Training Skills and Leadership Elements. The trainers were experts from England, Holland, France, Canada and the United States of America. The two week intensive training course brought together key leaders from various ministries and Christian denominations from several African counties. This training has significantly improved the way we serve with C4I Cameroon and we trust that the new insights we have learned will yield better results for our work. We benefited from this training thanks to sponsorship from C4I International. Core Group Meeting The meeting was held in Mr Daniel Ngangmuta's house in Bamenda on Saturday 13 of March 2010. It started with an opening prayer from Pastor Peter Ngong. The core group members who were present at the meeting and actively took part in the deliberations are Mr. Daniel Ngangmuta, Pastor Peter Ngong, Pastor Yosimbom Randolph and Pastor Nchinda Gideon. Mr Daniel graciously served breakfast. Pastor Randolph gave the devotion from the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John chapter 17:16, and exhorted all core group members to stay united in Christ and in prayer. There were various highlights of the meeting. Workshop on Leadership and Management: We used this meeting to equip the members of the core group with the skills we learned in the ITA/LMC course. Members were aided in the areas of Position Result Description and Action Plans. Evidently this was the best moment of the meeting. Core group members were led to discover how to put together a Position Result Description (PRD) and Action Plans. Production of educational DVDs: Every core group member regretted that until now, the DVD/CD business had not started. The director of the business indicated that it will be a terrible waste if we attempt to operate the DVD copier without an electric generator. Electricity is not stable in Cameroon and we will run the risk of destroying capital and losing money. It was resolved that in case the transfer of funds has not been done, the national coordinator and director of Business should immediately follow-up the E400 assistance from C4I International promised by Mr Jos van Westing about two months ago. The business director observed that he had already put together all the necessary facilities for this business and will start as soon as generator and accessories are available. Pastor Peter Ngong announced that the Cameroon Baptist Convention will be willing to ask C4I Cameroon to handle the production of their DVD educational materials. This will be a good source of income. The national coordinator also indicated that he had drawn up a list of demands for C4I DVDs from the churches in Littoral, Western and SW regions. While only pastors are interested in the Why Israel 14 series DVD materials, ordinary Christians need other Israel DVDs we need to produce and supply. Conference: The 2010 conference will be in Douala. The location of a second conference is still being worked on. The proposed date of the conference was 18th to 20th November 2010. The coordinator was delegated to start survey on registration amount, meeting place and all the necessary aspects to ensure that a very successful conference holds in November 2010. It was emphasised that the mistakes of the Yaoundé conference should be avoided at all costs. The strategy of the highly successful Bamenda 2008 conference should be used. Douala conference will hold for two days. All conference participants must register in at least 2 weeks before conference commences. We should aim at training a certain number of key pastors among the pastors that the national coordinator is working with in Douala and the South West region. Why Israel? Bible Studies in Cameroon Two more pastors have registered for the Why Israel Bible study course bringing the total to five. These pastors are studying the course materials (Why Israel book and Why Israel DVD series) presentation by themselves. I meet with them and answer questions from them on various areas of the subject. By the end of the 12 months course, they will receive a certificate in the Theology of Israel and the Church. This is a motivation for pastors and church leaders to study Biblical revelation on Israel and the church. The students have been told to direct questions should they like to do so. As part of the studies requirement, they will attend the 2010 seminar on Israel and the church to be held in Cameroon.